Gawker Crowdfunding to Buy Mayor Crack Tape

Forget checkbook journalism—welcome to the era of PayPal journalism. Gawker has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $200,000 so it can buy the video that allegedly shows Toronto Mayor Rob Ford smoking crack. "They will give us the video. We will publish the video. You will watch the video," the site pledges. The "Crackstarter" campaign has already raised over $30,000 since launching earlier today. If the deal doesn't go down, or the owners sell the video to someone else, Gawker says it will donate the money to a Canadian non-profit that helps people suffering from addiction. (More Gawker stories.)